Pope urges Christians to be open to the Word of God

January 20, 2014 - Our God is a God of surprises who asks us to be docile and open to his newness. This was the central message of the homily of Pope Francis at Mass Monday morning in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta residence in the Vatican. Commenting on the day’s Gospel, the Pope said Jesus is very clear - “new wine into new wineskins”. The wine that God brings must be receive with openness, the Pope said, comparing it to the Word of God that says what it intends, not what I expect it to be. He said every Christian should ask himself if he is docile to the Word of God or whether he does what he wills according to his own interpretation. “Do I pass the Word of God through a laboratory still which turns it into a completely another thing different from what God intends?” This way, the Pope warned, I end up like ‘the unshrunken cloth on an old cloak’ that tears and becomes worse. The Argentine Pope who holds a master’s degree in chemistry, gave another example of an electric appliance for which we look out for a plug adapter. Likewise he said, we should always try to adapt ourselves and be open to the newness of the Word of God. Stubbornness, indocility and not doing what God wants is the sin of idolatry, the Pope said, urging all to think about what Christian liberty and obedience consist in. They consist in docility to the Word of God and the courage of becoming new wineskins for the new wine, the Pope added.